Love to Work Hard…Associate AD Lynne Andrew

Fort Lewis College Assistance Athletic Director Lynne Andrew came in to ES 480, Wednesday morning to speak to us about what she does, what she has done prior, as well as her thoughts on how to be a little more successful in our future careers.

Upon completing high school, Lynne was offered a scholarship to play college basketball here in the US. After an illustrious playing career which included All-American accolades in college and playing professionally in Germany, Lynne returned to the United States to finish her degree and try her hand at coaching basketball.

In Lynne’s first few years of coaching, she saw action as an assistant coach. After assistant coaching at a couple different colleges, Lynne saw her first opportunity to become a head coach, however, she was not chosen. Her next head coaching opportunity came by way of Fair Banks, Alaska. After the board felt they needed a change, she found herself on her way to Fort Lewis College, first as a compliance coordinator, then as the scholarship budget administrator as well. Eventually, Lynne had more positions added under her, and was then able to become the associate athletic director.

One of the things that Lynne said that had the biggest impact on me was when she had said connections are great but a lot of it comes down to how hard you work. I completely and full-heartedly agree with that statement. If I were to take one thing away from her talk and apply it to my career, it would be the statement she made about putting yourself out there. She said “make sure people know who you are. Give people time, and don’t put yourself on a pedestal”. I feel that this will be very important in a fitness club or gym setting as it will allow for people to feel more comfortable with me and open the door for them to ask for advice. I will make a more conscious effort to give people time when they say hi or ask how I am doing, even if I am busy. Showing people that I have some interest in them can be help make my professional life a lot more enjoyable.

The advice that Lynne gave regarding hard work and success was valuable, even though we heard it all the time, it has more of an impact when you hear it in person from someone you can tell has worked hard to get where they are in life.